Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,060,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 22,086 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 1.0% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.28% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $551,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $771,876,000 after acquiring an additional 225,568 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 4,158 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 20,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,577,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 126,603 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $65,863,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CCM Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 31,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,822 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $651.00 to $637.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $580.00 to $570.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $605.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.43.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $410.54 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $402.81 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $466.94 and a 200-day moving average of $516.54.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.05. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.09%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.93, for a total value of $128,979.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,167 shares in the company, valued at $9,960,188.31. The trade was a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,075 shares of company stock valued at $7,305,942 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.